George E. Hocking
George Edward Hocking (1859-1935) He attended a one room Amish school as a young boy. His father John worked as a tenent farmer and was a pastor in the early 1860s. He became a chapel assistant as a teenager and later became a friar. He became part of the Chapel of Menencaries (Augustine clan) in 1879 after a ritual. In 1881, he gave up his religious life and pursued a career in railroading, devoting himself to being a religious man when he was older, but choosing to take advantage of youth. From 1881 to 1886, he worked on railroads in Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1886, at age 27, he was promoted to Railroad Master. He is famous for conducting the 2,700+ men trip to Georgia during War of Gables in 1888. In January 1889, he married his wife Vivienne of whom he knew from a young age. Their son, Andrew, would be born in 1892. Later in 1889, George became Postmaster of the northern district of Columbus (which wasn't the capital at the time), after having served only 3 years plus service as a paperboy years earlier. George drafted a small book about railroads and the mail industry in March 1891 titled "Respecting the Rails". It recieved generally positive reviews from locals. This sparked his interest in writing and authortry. He devoted himself to, in his free time, writing a small illustrated book series for adult men pursuing careers, in late 1891. He later began writing children's books. In 1894, George retired from physical railroading, having nearly suffered a broken back, and settled down into finance. He served as a payroll for his mail office for years, and wanted to expand his knowledge of business in a sudden spark of interest. He attended Ohio State University from 1894 to 1898, graduating with a Master's in Business and Accounting at age 39. He became a CPA the following year. George collaborated between his writing and accounting. Through his CPA grants, he was discovered by local politicians in need of campaign help. This paved his way to becoming a campaign organizer for mayoral politics, and eventually, a public speaker. In May 1902, George became Commisioner. He published a large novel trilogy about politics and business five months later. In 1904, he was persuaded to run for a higher office but refused, and had a good reason. He put in words the Hocking Tenets, tenets by which the 'good men of the Hocking clan would abide by'. He stated he was comfortable in his position. This is when his interest in genealogy began, in 1904. He did intensive research and talked with men all over the world about not only family history but politics as well, which he used to gather ideas and give to local politicians to make society better. He travelled to China, India, Mongolia, Finland and Britain between 1905 and 1909. He became a historian in French history and became a linguist, learning the languages of Spanish, French, German, Hebrew and Chinese. Upon the near outbreak of a war, he travelled to southern India in February 1911. He left immediatley however due to violence. From 1911 to 1915, his writing years were in their prime, having written over 27 novels on philosophy, genealogical research, politics, and business. He reattended Franklin University from 1914 to 1918 to study ancient History and modern History, earning a BA. In 1917, he spoke openly against US President Woodrow Wilson's views on the war. By now, George had successfully converted to Hinduism and had a prospetual world view. In 1919, he became a Buddhist, which he would remain. This was due to many Indian and Thailand trips in 1918, that inspired him. In 1923, he became a full-fledged Buddhist monk. Due to his high respect, he was allowed to keep his hair and live in America among commoners, but was disallowed from political office, which he was perfectly intent with. From 1920 to 1922, he had published his family geneological papers. He had more time after 1923 to study. He became a Historian and History Professor and Chinese Professor at Ohio State University from 1924 until his death. He publicly spoke at many events. In 1929, he published his final novel, which proved to be his most popular called "Secular Views". It was not on onesubject, but all in one. In 1930, on the onslaught of the Great Depression, he made an attempt to found a business company named Hocking Associates. He initially succeeded, but it did not live to see 1933. George had a large millionaire fortune now, but he divided it among his family and charity. In June 1934, George had a bank about of $700. George was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and developed tumors in late 1934. In January and February of 1935, he recorded several audiobooks for his family about history, genealogy, language and culture in a very simplified version. His sickness became worse in late October. He died by familyside on November 11th, 1935 in his home. He was given an Honors Burial. Category:November 24 2014